


open your eyes

by pandoracorn



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Angst, Canon-Compliant, M/M, There's some reference to pre-canon but like shrug, Written for the DR SS exchange on tumblr!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 15:09:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13102824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandoracorn/pseuds/pandoracorn
Summary: because if you keep them closed, then you can’t see the flowers growing by your feet, leading the way to a future you’ve sacrificed everything to deserve~Makoto Naegi has survived two killing games, and has witnessed many people die without having any means to help them.





	open your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Psy for the NDRv3 Winter exchange!!
> 
> I'm sorry for not writing something for v3, but these are my boys and I felt comfortable giving you the angst you asked for!! There is a v3 reference for a split second, if you squint... see if you can spot him!!
> 
> Happy holidays, dear friend, I hope you like this!!

“Yo, Naegi.”

His eyes show open and he looked around, for a moment forgetting where he was until he felt the summer sun hitting his face, and the gentle white noise of voices in the park. A sigh escaped him as he slouched slightly against the bench, letting his arms hang over the sides. For a moment, he thought about closing his eyes again, but considering how much he’d obviously spaced out beforehand, he didn’t want to burden the boy sat next to him - who was apparently amused by his disconnection with reality if the laughing was anything to go by.

“Hey, you slept good, right?”

“Huh?” Naegi glanced over, meeting Leon’s gaze over at him, before laughing at himself and sitting up again, stretching his arms above his head. “Honestly, no. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, lately, I’ve just been… really tired, I guess.”

“Well, rest in pieces, dude.”

“Kuwata-kun, can you at least be a little more concerned?”

“I run on like 4 hours of sleep and pure caffeine and adrenaline most of the time, my man,” he commented offhandedly, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not sayin’ I recommend it, but it’s workin’ for me, so-”

“Says the man who tripped over his own feet on the way here and couldn’t get up for five minutes because he couldn’t stop laughing.”

Leon paused and stared at the floor, before half-glaring at Naegi, “Dude, en dolphins are good for healin’ and shit, right?”

“...They’re called endorphins, Kuwata-kun.”

“...Shit.”

Naegi shook his head and couldn’t find it in himself to suppress a smile as he looked at Leon’s genuinely dumbfounded expression before he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Maybe we both need to sleep?”

“Yeah, ‘prolly.”

 

After that, the two fell into silence, staring aimlessly at the clouds - a clear blue sky, a shining sun, the picture-perfect image of summer, and the break that they both had dreamed of. The first year at Hope’s Peak had many surprises for them - including them even becoming friends in the first place, Naegi often thought, let alone getting this far - and now, the second year had just begun, and a few weeks of summer to relax and unwind was well deserved. Especially after it was found that Leon could not get along with some of the underclassmen… he still had bruises and a band-aid on his nose to prove that fact… the excuse of “he’s too tall and too purple” was still funny, even weeks later.

 

And really, could Naegi ask for anyone more? Sure, he felt like he was in Leon’s shadow sometimes, but the guy was well-meaning behind his flashy facade of wanting to be famous… he had moments of reflection and was slowly getting better at not being a jerk when it came to needed to be an emotional support, and sometimes, he even needed help himself, when anxieties were running high and he couldn’t keep them bottled up anymore… naegi felt that, even in all his boring normalcy, that in the eyes of this superstar sportsman, he was someone special, and that feeling was the best in the world.

 

“Naegi?”

His name brought him out of his introspecting, and he looked up, noticing Leon’s face had grown a little more serious now. “Uh, yeah?”

He paused for a moment, letting his jaw hang loose with the words he wanted to say, before closing it and trying again. “Don’t you think… it’s time for you to wake up?”

“Huh? Kuwata-kun, I-”

He was cut off by suddenly being pulled into a hug, one he didn’t fully register the meaning of until he felt the tight grip - one that almost seemed like he didn’t want to let go - and the feeling of a kiss being planted on his cheek. Then there were tears, and finally, the hug was returned desperately, and he felt like his throat was caving in, as if he’d been screaming for years on end-

\--

"Naegi-kun.”

His eyes slowly opened and he looked around, for a moment forgetting where he was until he shivered in the chill of the office fan and heard nothing but silence ringing in his ears. A sigh escaped him as he rubbed his face with his hands, wondering if he was hallucinating the wetness of his cheeks, as he always did. For a moment, he thought about closing his eyes again, thinking it might be for the best if he never woke up, but considering how often he thought that and how the girl stood beside his desk holding papers stared with the slightest of concerns - a face both full and devoid of emotion - he didn’t want to burden her any more than he already had - she'd been through just as much as him, anyway.

“...It's not been getting any easier, has it?”

“Huh?” Naegi glanced over, meeting Kirigiri's gaze down at him, before forcing a laugh and sitting up fully in his chair (ignoring the piercing cramps in his neck from falling asleep on his desk), stretching his arms above his head. “Well, no, but there would be no point in lying to you, would there?”

“Of course not.”

“...And what about you?”

“I have work to keep me busy, and the meddling of the leader of Branch 3 hasn't ceased any, even after my memories returned and I expressed my need for space,” she replied, placing the stack of files on the corner of Naegi's desk and folding her arms across her chest. “It's not a remedy, that's for sure, but regardless... it's better than nothing.”

“Work huh... that really is like you, Kirigiri-san.”

Kirigiri paused and stared at the floor, looking up again with an expression slightly softer than before, “...You were saying his name in your sleep, you know.”

“...Huh?”

“Saying his name and laughing, yes.”

Naegi shook his head and couldn’t find it in himself to force a smile as he looked at Kirigiri's almost sympathetic expression before she began to twirl a piece of hair between her fingers. “Oh... I see.”

“...” She stared silently, watching him space out again.

 

Of course, every time he fell asleep he saw Leon's face again, the memory of the second summer they spent together playing over and over, always starting and ending the same but nothing warning him it was nothing more than that - a dream, a repeated memory of a time when he could hold his boyfriend's hand and say "Yes, he is alive and I can say that I'm happy and I didn't watch him die right before my very eyes in a twisted murder game where his only choice was to die or kill.".

 

And really, could Naegi ask for anyone more? He was one of the people who voted for his demise, one of the people who voted for him to die against that post, bloodied and bruised and unable to escape his doom that was much more painful to experience than it was to watch - Naegi knew that for sure. No, he could never judge what Leon felt in his final moments - pain, surely, but was he mad? Probably. Did he remember what the two of them had been through? No, of course not, the memory wipe would have been too strong. This was one of the things he thought about more than anything else - did Leon Kuwata, the boy he loved more than anyone he ever had loved before, hate him in his final moments? ...He wouldn't say no, because the other option was much more likely, more realistic, even

 

“Naegi-kun?”

His name brought him out of his introspecting, and he looked up, noticing Kirigiri's face had grown a more serious once more. “Uh, yeah?”

She paused for a moment, bringing her hand up to her chin and thinking for a moment, before going ahead with her thoughts. “Don’t you think it's time you opened your eyes to what's around you?”

“H-huh? I-”

"Our classmates died to see us live and end the game. We lost them, yes, and we will never get them back, but in the end, we will make sure their memories are not in vain. Isn't that what they would have wanted... isn't that what he would have wanted you to do?"

Naegi stared for a moment, processing her words as he looked down at his hands. She was right, he knew that, she was always right about these kinds of things, but every time she said it, he found it a little harder to believe.

 

Then there were tears, and finally, she moved herself to hold his shaking hands, and he felt like his throat was caving in, as if he’d been screaming for years on end.

 

And he had.


End file.
